Neodymium is a light rare earth metal, so this magnet is not rare earth free as claimed by the title of the article, but only heavy rare earth free. Most of both heavy and light rare earths are still mined in those environment destroying mines in China, so Neodymium is still an environmentally destroying element.
Neodymium is a chemical element with symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is a soft silvery metal that tarnishes in air. Neodymium was discovered in 1885 by the Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach. It is present in significant quantities in the ore minerals monazite and bastnäsite. Neodymium is not found naturally in metallic form or unmixed with other lanthanides, and it is usually refined for general use. Although neodymium is classed as a rare earth, it is a fairly common element, no rarer than cobalt, nickel, and copper, and is widely distributed in the Earth's crust. [4] Most of the world's commercial neodymium is mined in China.
A neodymium magnet (also known as NdFeB, NIB or Neo magnet), the most widely used [1] type of rare-earth magnet, is a permanent magnet made from an alloy of neodymium, iron and boron to form the Nd2Fe14B tetragonal crystalline structure. [2] Developed in 1982 by General Motors and Sumitomo Special Metals, neodymium magnets are the strongest type of permanent magnet commercially available. [2] [3] They have replaced other types of magnets in the many applications in modern products that require strong permanent magnets, such as motors in cordless tools, hard disk drives and magnetic fasteners. |
